Active Physical Science


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Activity Page 1

GOALS

In this activity you will:

Decompose water by electrolysis into the two elements from which it is composed.
Test the two elements to determine their identities.
Learn one way to determine the chemical formula of a material.
Compare characteristic properties of a material to those of its constituent elements.
Represent materials with chemical formulas using numbers and the symbols of elements.
Practice safe laboratory techniques with flames and explosions.

What Do You Think?

Matter is the name for all the “stuff” in the universe.
Anything that has mass and occupies space is called matter.

How many kinds of matter are there in the universe: 1, 10, 100, 1000, 10,000, or more than 10,000?
What makes up matter?

Record your ideas in your Active Chemistry log. Be prepared to discuss your responses with your small group and the class.

Investigate

1. Look around your classroom at the kinds of matter that make up the things you can see.

Make a list of 10 kinds of materials that make up the objects you see. For example, you might list the wood that makes up your pencil, or the glass that makes the windows.
To understand the nature of matter, it helps to know if it is simple or complex. Is it made from only one kind of material or is it a mixture of various materials? Classify each of the 10 materials you listed as pure or mixtures.